Jude Bellingham’s Performance Echoes Keane and Gerrard – Rooney

Wayne Rooney believes Jude Bellingham’s performance against Mexico echoed the heroic Champions League displays of Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane.

The 23‑year‑old England midfielder Jude Bellingham netted twice within 98 seconds to secure a dramatic 3‑2 victory for Thomas Tuchel’s side, playing with ten men, in an epic World Cup clash at the Azteca Stadium.

The hard‑fought win advances England to a quarter‑final meeting with Norway, as the Three Lions seek their first major trophy since their 1966 World Cup triumph.

Rooney, a former England forward, compared Bellingham’s display to Steven Gerrard’s heroics in Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League final comeback against AC Milan and Roy Keane’s outstanding performance that helped Manchester United overcome Juventus en route to the 1999 European Cup final.

“I had predicted that Jude Bellingham would have a game where he would be needed to drag us through,” said the former Manchester United and Everton striker on his BBC podcast.

“Look at Steven Gerrard’s performance against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, or Roy Keane’s against Juventus for Manchester United – they were the players who dragged their teams through those games.”

“I felt that summed up Bellingham’s night – the timing of the two goals, his desire, work rate and hunger.”

Gerrard scored the decisive goal as Liverpool rallied from a 3‑0 deficit to defeat AC Milan in Istanbul on penalties and clinch the trophy, while Keane netted a crucial goal for a Manchester United side that overturned a 3‑1 aggregate deficit, playing inspired football despite Keane having a yellow card that would rule him out of the final.

Rooney awarded Bellingham’s performance in the last‑16 win in Mexico City a perfect “10 out of 10”, citing the numerous “pitfalls” that surrounded the match.

The Real Madrid midfielder also executed a brilliant last‑ditch tackle to deny Mexico defender César Montes a certainty goal, levelling the score at 2‑2 in the dying moments of the first half.

“While defensively he isn’t always in the ideal spot, his desire to recover, deliver that crucial last‑minute tackle and support teammates who may be struggling made all the difference,” Rooney added.

“When you’re asked to mark a player out of ten, you always wonder if they could have done a bit more – I just felt it was the right game to give him a 10 out of 10.”

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